Filter cigarette holder



Jan 22, 1957 H. M. NAGLE 2,778,364

FILTER CIGARETTE HOLDER Filed May s1, 1955 INVENTOR. Henlell P7. N632 eATTORNEY United States Patent FILTER CIGARETTE HOLDER Henrietta M.Nagle, New' York, N. Y.

Application May 31, 1955, ASerial No. 512,126

3- Claims. (Cl. ISI-182).

This invention relates -to improvements in smoking articles and thelike.

An object of the invention is to provide-a novel and improved cigaretteholder which is engageable with a cigarette in such Ia manner as to makeit a filtered cigarette. t

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedcigarette holder which includes means for effecting compressment of thetobacco in a portion of the cigarette, so that the -compressed tobaccoof the oigarette forms a lter for smoke, nicotine and tars, and otherproducts o'f the smoking process.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedcigarette holder in which there isan opening for the reception of an endof a cigaet-te, and a slidable cigarette penetrating member which isdisposed inside the 'housing of the holder, and adapted for beingextended forward-ly so as to penetrate into the tobacco at the rearwardend of the cigarette, thus expanding the tobacco outwardly radially, andcompressing the tobacco, the arrangement being such that the smoke whichflows rearwardly through the -cigarette on puffing by the smoker, isconstrained to flow through the compressed tobacco, and thus to befiltered thereby.

Still another object lof the invention is to provide a novel andimproved filter type cigarette holder in which the cigarette itself ismade to become a. smoke lter, by having the rearward end yof thecigarette confined in a cylindrical housing, so that it cannot expand,and including an elongated shaft of substantial thickness which iscarried on a smoke permeable support withinthe holder housing, thesupport being extensible forwardly so that its elongated shaft is`pushed into the confined end of the cigarette, `and of suicientthickness or r-adial dimension as to provide substantial radialAcornpressment of the tobacco, the shaft being constru-cted to blockpassage of smoke therethrough, so that the smoke must pass through thetobacco which is compressed, and is thus filtered.

These and other objects and advantages of the inven- -tion will becomeapparent lfrom the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a parthereof, and in which,

Figure 1 is an elevational View of a cigarette holder according to theinvention, with aV cigarettesdisposed therein.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevational View ltaken substantially on plane 22 of Figure l, the movable internal elements being Vshown in retracteddispositions.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional elevational view taken substantiallyon plane 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional elevational view taken substantiallyon plane 4 4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detail plan view of Vthe cigarette pene trating housingand shaft apartfrom the assembly.

Figure 6 is a detail plan view of the cigarette ejecting housing apartfrom the assembly.

Figure 7r is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional elevational view takenon ,the same plane as Figure 2, but showing a modified form ofconstruction with a replace/- able threaded shank memberv at 72b.

In connection with the smoking of cigarettes, it has Ybecomeincreasingly apparent that the .public to a large extent, findscertain'advantages in filtration of thesrnoke before it reaches themouth and'lungs of the smoker. Such filtration has heretofore beenaccomplished mainly by introduction of a tilter tip to the rearward endof the cigarette, which contains cellulose, cotton fibres, or otherfiltering material which is not of the same material as the tobaccoitself. The present invention provides means whereby the ordinaryunfiltered cigarette' may be its' own filter, and thus avoids the needfor attachment of filter tips to the cigarette, or for useV of otherVauxiliary filtering materials in the path of the smoke. This is done bycompressing the tobacco in the rearward end portion of the cigarette,and thus constraining the smoke to low through the compressed tobacco,taking advantage of its high degree of smoke'ltering action. A housingis provided, into which theA rearward end of the cigarette is insertedto .a substantial degree, and a movable penetration shaft is movablymounted inside th-e housing, so that on forward movement it penetratesinto the tobacco and thus compresses it radially outwardly. The smokemust flow through the compressed tobacco, and is thus -ltered Aftersmoking, the butt is ejectedby simple movable means.

The present invention thus provides for many advan- -tages in cigarettefiltering, without need for complicated structural means or addenda tothe cigarettes themselves for bringing this about..V In order tounderstand clearly `the nature of the invention, and the best means forcarrying it out, referencem-ay now be had to the drawings, in whichlikenumerals denote similar parts throughout the several views.

As shown, there isla main 4cigarette holder housing generally indicatedat 20, which in the form vshown may be generally cylindrical, taperingaty its 'rearward end portion to the lef-t of location Z6, to form amouthpiece 2.8, the ytip of which is seen at 30. The mouthpiece 28 has.a passageway 32 formed therethrough, which opens upon the main Ibore 24of the main housing7 and 'from Figures 1- and 2, it is-seen that acigarette 10 may have its rearward endY portion inserted into theforward Vopening i6 ofthe main housing for a substantial distanceVinwardly of the forward end 18 of the main housing.

Inside the main housing bore 24 are two main yassemblies or members,namelythe cigarette ejector member 50, shown in detail also inFigure 6apart `from the assembled device,.and the Itobacco penetratopcompressermember 52. The cigare-tteejector member 50 has a cylindrical body wall62 secured atfits forward endto the forward wall 63, and open at itsrearward end, thus defining a cylindrical bore 65 in whichis slidablydisposedV the cylindrical bodyv wall 53 ol" the penetratorcompressermember 52.. As seen best in Figures 2 and 4, the front wall 63 of theejector member 50 has a number of openingso formed therein to allowpassage of air and smoke there through as indicated by the arrows inFigure 2, theopenings 66 being formed between the spider legs or ribs 64remaining and the central wall portion or hub 68. A position adjustingknob 58is mounted on the pin 60- which in turn is seated ina socketformed in the wall 62 of the ejector member so as tobe movabletherewith. As seen `best in Figures l, 2 and .4, the pinA 6@ isconstrained to movement in the guide slot 92 formed in main outerhousing 22', from a rearward position at which -the cigarette isinsertable inthe holder, t-o full forward position at which the'cigarette is ejected from the holder, when the burning Iat 11 hasprogressed 3 for a suicient time, or the user is finished with smokingit.

The cigarette compressor-penetrator member 52 also has a cylindricalbody wall 53 the outside diameter of which is substantially the same asthe inside diameter of the ejector bore 65, with only sufficientlooseness to permit easy slidable movement of the two members 52 and 50on each other without slippage. The member 52 also has a forward wall57, provided with openings 84 between the spider ribs 86 and the centralarea or hub 88, for the free passage of air and smoke as indicated bythe arrows in Figure 2. The rearward end of member 52 is open, to allowair and smoke to pass therethrough. A cigarette penetrator-expander orcompressor shaft 72 is carried on the forward Wall of member S2, beingeither integral therewith, or mounted in any convenient manner, as byhaving its reduced rearward end 74 extending through an opening in thehub area 88 of the wall 57, and then peened over as shown to retain theshaft 72 for movement with member 52.

The forward end 73 of the tobacco compressor shaft 72, may beconveniently pointed to facilitate its entry into and expansion of thetobacco in the rearward end of the cigarette when it is moved to forwardposition, as

shown by broken lines at 72a in Figure 2. A knob 56 is mounted on a pin54 seated in the wall S3 of the expander member S2, and extends throughthe motion limiting guide slot 94 formed in wall 22 of the outerhousing, to permit easy adjustment of the position of the member 52. Thelength of the slot 94 is chosen to give the desired degree ofpenetration of the shaft 72 into the cigarette. As seen, there is acentral opening 70 in the front hub area 68 of the ejector Si), to allowthe pin shaft 72 to slide therethrough, and to aid in maintaining itsaxial orientation at all times.

In using the device, with the members 52 and Sii in retracted positions,as shown in Figure 2, the cigarette is inserted inside the front orferrule portion 18 of the main housing, so that a substantial portion ofthe cigarette length is confined inside ferrule portion 1S as shown. Theknob 56 which is the cigarette compressor actuating knob, is then pushedforwardly, causing the expander shaft 72 to enter the tobacco 14 of thecigarettc, displacing the tobacco radially outwardly as the shaft movesto position 72a, and thus compressing the tobacco in the annular spacebetween the shaft 72a and the ferrule 18, and forming a long annularmass of densely packed tobacco rearwardly of location 16. The cigaretteis then lighted as at 11, and it is apparent that the smoke must travelrearwardly through the more densely packed annular tobacco mass underferrule 18, since the shaft 72 remains in the tobacco, and hence aconsiderable liltering action is obtained, the tobacco being more densegiving good filtration by blocking passage of impurities in the smoke,and holding them within itself. It is noted that the smoke can passfreely rearwardly due to the openings 66 and 84. After the cigarette issmoked, it is simple to retract the knob 56, pulling out the shaft 72,and to push forward the ejecting knob 53, moving member 5t) forwardly,and ejecting the smoked cigarette from the holder. The ferrule 18permits of good radial displacement of the tobacco by shaft 72, sincethere is support by ferrule 18 to hold the displaced tobacco.

For obtaining further or adjustable filtration, it is possible toincrease or decrease the degree of insertion of the shaft 72 in thecigarette, and also by further insertion of the cigarette in the holder,or -lessening the insertion. By making the shaft 72 quite long, and theferrule 18 correspondingly long, the degree of iiltration due toincreased length of filtration path can be made of any degree at all asdesired. Similarly, as shown in Figure 7, the shaft 72b may be made tothread at 73b into the central opening 71 in wall 57, and easilyremovable so that the dealer may sell it with several lengths ofdiffering size of such shaft, to suit the needs of the smoker.

Also the diameter of the shaft 72 may be made in varying sizes, so thata higher or lower degree of radial displacement may be obtained to suitthe smoker.

Although I have described my invention in specific terms, it will beunderstood that various changes may be made in size, shape, materialsand arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

I claim:

l. A smoking device comprising a main tubular housing having a boreformed therethrough, said housing being reduced at its rearward end toform a mouthpiece, a forward end portion of said main tubular housingdelineating a ferrule for receiving a substantial tobacco containingrearward end portion of a cigarette, a tubular cigarette eiecting meansslidably engaging said main housing bore, said main housing having aslot, actuating pin and knob means carried by said ejecting means andextending through said slot for allowing forward and rearward motion ofsaid ejecting means for ejecting said cigarette from said housing asdesired, said ejecting means having an ejecting means bore formedtherein, tubular shaft support means slidably engaging said ejectingmeans bore for forward and backward movement therein, a tobaccoexpanding shaft means carried by said tubular shaft supportmeans andextending forwardly thereof, said ejecting means having an openingthrough which said shaft means is extensible forwardly of said ejectingmeans, whereby on forward movement of said shaft means it penetratesinto the said tobacco within said ferrule, compressing it outwardly andforming an annular compacted mass of tobacco for filtering purposes,through which smoke is constrained to flow, and means accessible fromoutside said main housing for moving said shaft support means and saidshaft forwardly and backwardly, for smoking either with or withoutfiltration as desired.

2. A smoking device comprising a main housing having a passage formedtherein, a tobacco compressing shaft, and a shaft support means carryingsaid shaft and disposed movably in said passage, and constructed andarranged so that said shaft is movable forwardly for penetration of arearward mass of tobacco in a cigarette extending inside said mainhousing, whereby the said mass of tobacco is radially outwardlycompressed by said shaft and whereby an annular plug of dense tobacco isformed into a filter, and wherein said shaft support means comprises ahollow tubular support body, and spider means carried by said support.body and constructed and arranged for engaging said shaft, wherebysmoke is free to iiow through said hollow tubular support'body and saidspider means.

3. A smoking device comprising a main housing having `a passage formedtherein, a tobacco compressing shaft, and a shaft support means carryingsaid shaft and disposed movably in said passage, and constructed andarranged so that said shaft is movable forwardly for penetration of arearward mass of tobacco in a cigarette extending inside said mainhousing, whereby the said mass of tobacco is radially outwardlycompressed by said shaft and rendei-ed more dense thanprior to insertionof said shaft, whereby an annular plug of dense tobacco is formed into alter, and wherein said shaft support means comprises a hollow tubularsupport body, spider means carried by said support body and constructedand arranged for engaging said shaft for movement therewith, and havinga plurality of openings formed in said spider means, where by smoke isfree to ow past said shaft and through said spider means and hollowsupport body, and positioning means including a knob and a pin securingsaid knob to said hollow tubular support body, said pin extendingthrough said main housing, and said main housing having slot meanstherethrough for receiving said pin and oriented for permitting forwardand rearward movement of said pin in said slot, whereby, byvmovement ofsaid knob outside said main housing, said tobacco expanding shaft ismovable forwardly to compress tobacco in a ciga- 5 rette, and rearwardlyout of such compressing position as desired.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,024,980 Fernandez Apr. 30, 1912 1,483,503 Boreiko Feb. 12, 19241,594,777 Hebblethwaite Aug. 3, 1926 6 Schmitt June 25, 1946 Meohas Nov.8, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1900 Germany Jan. 21, 1952 FranceDec. 22, 1934

